Popular Categories

TEACHER SHORTAGE CRITICAL



 

 

“Teaching is a very rewarding profession, very difficult but rewarding, teachers help prepare students for so many different careers that they may choose,” said Dr. Shannon Amiotte, Chair of OLC’s Education Department

PINE RIDGE – Last week, the OST Tribal Education Agency put out a data sheet that listed 28 teacher openings in schools across the reservation, 16 of the vacancies were in Oglala Lakota County Schools, five at Rockyford, seven at Wolf Creek and four at Red Shirt with four openings at Little Wound, two at Crazy Horse, two at Isna Wica Owayawa, two at Pahin Sinte Owayawa and two at Pine Ridge.

“To be honest, we’re not going to be able to fill all of these positions by the time school starts on Sept. 3,” said OI Zephier, human resource director at Oglala Lakota County Schools. “We are aggressive at recruiting new teachers, we visit all of the South Dakota colleges, we go to Wyoming, participate in career days and offer one of the best starting teacher salaries around but it is a struggle to find enough teachers.”

“Over the past three years we’ve had 22 graduates, 16 elementary teachers, five in Early Childhood and one K-12 Lakota Studies and it is nowhere near enough to meet the need,” said Dr. Shannon Amiotte, chair of OLC’s Education Department who has spent 26 years in education. “The issue of teacher shortages is not just one here on the reservation but it is at the state and is a national issue as well; the current pool of students cannot cover the numbers of teachers retiring or leaving the teaching profession. This year we sent out certified letters and emails to 33 students, 18 signed up, 12 came, we’re looking at creating commercials, increasing outreach in schools and internships in local schools.”

“This year, seven students graduated from OLC, five in K-8 elementary education and two in Early Childhood education; as of Aug. 13, there were still 28 teacher vacancies. Many of our graduates do not enter the job market, because schools where they do their student teaching have already hired them,” added Amiotte.

“Teaching is a very rewarding profession, very difficult but rewarding, teachers help prepare students for so many different careers that they may choose,” said Amiotte. “As a teacher, rewards come from knowing you are helping students succeed, helping them reach their potential.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.